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Life and Work to Cease Publication

Tuesday May 20 2025

Life and Work editor Lynne McNeil addresses the General Assembly

Life and Work, the 146-year-old magazine of the Church of Scotland, is to cease publication later this year.

The General Assembly this afternoon accepted a Faith Action Programme Leadership Team (FAPLT) and Assembly Trustees recommendation, made ‘with heavy hearts’, that the church could no longer afford to publish Life and Work in its current form. The magazine, which contributed significant surpluses to the Church prior to 2020, had struggled with falling reader numbers and a growing financial deficit in recent years.

Lynne McNeil, who has edited the magazine for 23 years, told the Assembly that ‘for the sake of the team and the history books’ they disputed some of the figures in the report, and that a significant part of the deficit was due to internal recharges, most imposed for the first time this year. (FAPLT accepted amendments to the motion to that effect.)

However, Mrs McNeil said ‘We are living in a market of diminishing returns’, in which print publications are struggling, and in which Life and Work’s core audience, worshippers in the Church of Scotland pews on Sunday, has shrunk to an average of 68,160. Every time there is a church closure or union, Life and Work loses sales, she added.

She said these were ‘the hardest of times’ for the Church, and that if Life and Work was reprieved this year, ‘the reality is we would be facing the same situation in six to twelve months’.

The Rev Jim Stewart, convener of the Life and Work Advisory Committee, said that, through the magazine, “Our identity as the national church has been enhanced and strengthened. People in Orkney could tell people in Perth what’s happening in their church. We felt connected, part of a much larger thing, the body of Christ through the Church of Scotland.” He said that it was ‘a seminal moment, a moment of loss’, and a tangible mark of the changes facing the Church.

The convener of the FAPLT Resource and Presence group, Alistair Cumming, said that Life and Work ‘holds a special place in the life of the Church’, but that the Church ‘must also face difficult reality’.

Proposals will be brought to next year’s Assembly for a new publication as part of a full communications strategy. FAPLT accepted a motion from the Rev Alistair May saying that the principle of editorial independence, which underpinned Life and Work, would be included in any future publication. He said: “I think it’s really important that we have something, not just toeing the line but questioning it.”

The Rev Bryan Kerr said: “Telling truth to power is vitally important and I cannot for the life of me think why this Assembly or anyone in it would worry about independence. It’s really important that at this time of immense change that we have something, someone, some mechanism that we know we can speak into, and can listen and give an accurate, true account of what’s going on.”

Earlier, the Rev Tommy MacNeil, convener of FAPLT, said in his speech: “Our heart as FAPLT is to make real, visible, tangible, and living, the vision of the Church of Scotland – which is to inspire the people of Scotland and beyond with the good news of Jesus Christ through enthusiastic worshipping, witnessing, nurturing, and serving communities.”

He commended FAPLT’s Vivid Vision video and resources, encouraging church members and congregations to engage with them, and pointed to the success of the recent ministers’ conference, and progress in the new Apprenticeship route to ministry, as reasons for hope.

Mr MacNeil concluded: “I am absolutely convinced there are better and brighter days ahead for our church. But we will only see them if we get up and get going and move forward with what God has called us to do.”

The assistant minister scheme, which had originally been planned to end in September, was extended to the end of the year at the behest of FAPLT, and an amendment was added to extend support to the end of 2026 ‘where such opportunities may be helpful in supporting congregations and clusters of congregations working towards fulfilment of the Presbytery Mission Plan’.

The scheme was a temporary measure, brought in to provide roles for newly-qualified ministers while congregations were not allowed to call during the recent Presbytery Planning process. It was reported today that all presbytery plans have now been approved, which should mean more churches being given permission to call.

However, the Rev Bryan Kerr said: “We are not in normal times. The number of vacant charges accepting applications is still rather low. This (amendment) will allow assistant ministers, their gifts and skills and talents to remain within our presbyteries.”

And the Rev Robbie Hamilton, clerk to the Presbytery of Clyde, noted that the six assistant ministers in the presbytery had been ‘invaluable’.

A new study into ministerial wellbeing was welcomed, and kirk sessions strongly encouraged to ‘meet, discuss and consider’ it. The Rev Alistair May spoke of his own experience of suffering anxiety, and of the support from both central and local church. He said: “A deliverance that encourages the congregation to take note isn’t enough… ask local folk to speak to their minister, open the subject up, have a look at the hours they’re working and the pressures they’re under.”

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